


Creature of Kinds - A Draco Malfoy Love Story

by Cirrus_0316



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-10-13 02:56:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10504977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cirrus_0316/pseuds/Cirrus_0316
Summary: It's their fifth year in Hogwarts, a peculiar girl called Jinx arrives from seemingly nowhere. But what secrets does this stance girl behold? When Draco finds out information on Jinx he finds himself questioning, is she even human? Will this proud pure blood give up his families status for his growing love for Jinx?





	1. Prologue

April 29, 1943

 

A young woman who looked to be in her late teens stood firmly in Professor Dumbledore's office. There was a strong stiffness that the girl's posture projected, as if she were a stone wall. But in her ocean blue eyes swam an unmistakable sorrow. The rosey lips upon her porcelain skin sunk with an awful brokenness. It wasn't long before she broke the silence. "Professor Dumbledore," she called for the attention of the aged wizard.

Dumbledore turned from his pensieve with a smile, "ah, Jinx, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you here on a Saturday afternoon?"

The girl, Jinx, forced her eyes to keep from spilling. "I suspect you already know why, Professor," Jinx responded in a professional tone of voice.

The smile faded from Dumbledore's mouth; she was right. "..So the time has come," he observed, taking a few slow steps toward Jinx.

"It would be dangerous to stay much longer, people would begin to notice," Jinx explained carefully.

Dumbledore nodded. "That is true," he agreed, "but that is not all, is it."

He'd hit the nail right on the head. Jinx took a deep breath "...I can't stand him any longer," she began with a quivering voice, "I can feel the darkness leaking from his very soul."

Grief flooded Dumbledore's grey eyes and he placed a gentle hand on Jinx's shoulder. "Jinx, you may be the only one able to help Tom Riddle," he urged. 

But Jinx only shook her head, her voice low as she replied, "I used to think that I could, because he is my mistake, but...there is no help in this world for that boy."

Dumbledore took a defeated step backwards a cleared his throat, "very well, I'll inform the others."

"Thank you," Jinx replied with wet eyes. 

"Just know, child," the professor added softly, "you will always be welcome at Hogwarts; whenever you feel afraid of the world, know that you can always come home."

Home. 

At his simple word, the ocean began to slip from Jinx's stormy eyes. She let her head fall against Dumbledore's robes as he embraced her. And when she let him go, Jinx's lip quivered as she asked a final question, "Professor, why was I ever sorted into Slytherin? If not to help Tom, why?"

Dumbledore frowned as he responded, "...I don't know."

Jinx nodded and the two said their goodbyes. Outside of the professor's office, students waltzed merrily around the hallways with their friends. Everyone she passed shot her a greeting or a smile, for everyone knew and loved her. But none of them knew of her curse, none of them knew her darkest secret. And they would understand why she had to leave, so she did not tell them. They would feel abandoned, betrayed, and confused, but Jinx would be long gone, never to see the sad faces of her beloved friends.

The Womping Willow outside of the castle was blooming with pastel green buds, signifying the beginning of spring. Tall, stringy grass swayed in the warm breeze, moving out of her way with every step she took. Eventually, Jinx came across an endless field of wild flowers that stretched their petals up to the sun. 

Jinx turned around. Hogwarts had faded into the distance like a fond memory; it would not always be visible, but it would always be there. Her home. And when she turned back to her path ahead, a smile crept across her face, for the world lied ahead of her, and who knew what wonders it would bring her.


	2. 1. White Wolf

October 26, 1995

Ever since the Ministry of Magic had begun interfering at Hogwarts, Harry and many other students would train in secret. The Room of Requirement had presented itself to Neville just days ago, the perfect place to go and train privately. Since Dolores Umbridge had taken over the school, Draco, along with many of the other Slytherin students, had been assigned the job of tracking down the rule breakers. All in all, Hogwarts would surely be chaotic this year. 

"I don't care if it's hard to find them," Dolores snapped at Filch, "just find them!"

Filch nodded and scurried off back to his post with two other Slytherin boys. Draco, however, refused to help on this day. He wondered the castle in silence, a strange sense of presence seeming to follow his every step. However, the boy was alone. As he approached the entrance of the Hogwarts, a sudden aroma of power entered his senses.

Immediately, Draco sped up, driven by his suspicion and curiosity. But before he reached the doors, they opened with an immense force that almost knocked him off of his feet.

"Mr. Malfoy, just what do you think you're doing?" Professor Snape's voice sounded from behind Draco.

"I didn't do anything," Draco insisted.

Before Snape could speak again, someone entered through the now open doors of the castle. Or rather, something. A burst of white smoke, like a heavenly cloud, waltzed into the school toward the two wizards. Draco watched in fear as this shapeless figure approached, while Snape's jaw hung in disbelief.

Before Draco had time to run, the white cloud dissipated into nothing, revealing a magnificent white wolf. But Snape noticed immediately the limp the wolf walked with and the scarlet, matted fur on her left side. He turned to Draco and ordered, "go straight to the hospital wing and inform Mrs. Pomfrey of this incident."

Draco, completely lost for words, was frozen in place for a moment. "Go," Professor Snape's harsh tone shocked Draco out of his daze and he ran off. His feet seemed to move on their own as he stumbled his way to the hospice wing, just as Snape ordered.

After warning Pomfrey, Draco sat in the room of empty, white beds and waited. Within minutes, Professor McGonagall and Shape rushed inside with the injured wolf. "She's losing blood, quickly," McGonagall stated as the nurse layed the wolf out on an empty bed.

Pomfrey's eyes widened as she saw the wolf's eyes; they waved like a deep ocean, pain dancing across them like a ballroom floor. Pomfrey began to ask, "goodness, is this-"

"Yes," McGonagall cut her off with serious eyes. She approached the nurse as she worked her healing magic on the wolf. After just a minute, the blood stopped flowing and Pomfrey sighed. Now she looked to McGonagall, but the old professor only stared down at the wolf as it sleeper peacefully, "she's returned."

Draco, who still sat unnoticed on an empty bed, watched the whole seen go down. Not ten minutes ago, he walked the Hogwarts halls without a single care. It was very difficult to process what was going on. As the nurse began to scrub the clotted blood from the white wolf's fur, Draco spoke up, his voice demanding and scared, "what's going on?"

Shape whipped around, shocked by Draco's words. He wishes over the the boy and snarled, "why are you still here?"

"Because you told me to come here," Draco retorted. The Slytherin boy stood and raised his voice slightly, "and I want answers; why are we waisting magic to heal a wolf?"

Pomfrey looked up with wide eyes, "don't you have any idea who this is?"

"That's enough!" Snape growled over his shoulder, obviously growing flustered. Everyone fell silent and the Professor turned back to Draco, "go back to your common room. Now."


	3. 2. New Student

That night, Draco couldn't sleep. His curiosity and frustration grew with every minute he layed in his bed. His eyes were glued to the ceiling as his thoughts grew suspicious. "What are they trying to hide?" He muttered to himself quietly, "I ought to tell my father about this."

Although his mouth had spoken it, Draco couldn't help but feel that yelling his father wouldn't be a good idea. There was a pull in his mind, in his heart, that made him feel so obsessed. Don't you have any idea who this is? Pomfrey's words echoed in his head; she'd said 'who,' not 'what,' which implied to Draco that whatever that wolf was, it was also, somehow, a person.

Finally, when his eyelids refused to stay open any longer, sleep found the young Slytherin teenager, and he let it take him.

October 27, 1995

The next day at breakfast, Umbridge made an announcement. "As you all know, with the stress that school creates can be very pressing," she started, "but I hope that all of us can still express our excitement for gaining a new student; Jinx Metlock."

After speaking the name, a girl stepped up and stood beside the disliked headmaster. Her full, wavy hair fell over her slender shoulders like a black waterfall, stopping just under her chest. Her skin looked as though it had never seen the light of day. But not even Draco could deny the pure beauty that this girl was.

"Jinx has transferred from another wizarding school, and will be placed with the fifth year students," Umbridge explained in her peppy voice that everyone hated, "congratulations Slytherin, you've gained a new member."

Umbridge finished her small speech and left with a satisfied smile. Jinx walked timidly over to the Slytherin table and took a seat at the emptier end of it. But after a few minutes, many other Slytherins began to join her, curious about her sudden arrival in the middle of the year.

"Where did you come from?" A small, brown haired girl questioned. Then, as if recalling her manners, she added, "oh, I'm Pansy, by the way."

"Oh, um, it's nice to meet you...I'm from Ilvermorny," Jinx replied shyly. 

"Ilvermorny?!" A dark skinned boy asked in shock, "isn't that in America?"

"Wow, you're from America? What's it like?" Yet another student asked.

Jinx, overwhelmed by all of the questions, began to panic a bit as she thought to herself, maybe I just should've stayed hidden. But before anything got worse, a tall boy with bleach blond hair walked over and spat at the crowding boys and girls, "leave her alone will you? She just got here."

Draco Malfoy. 

At his words, the swarm left, leaving only the tall boy with Jinx. He stared down at her with an unreadable expression.

In attempts to break the awkwardness, Jinx cleared her throat and spoke. "The others really listen to you well," she observed.

"I know," Draco responded cockily, "and if you're half as smart as them, so will you."

Jinx sat for a moment in silence; she wasn't sure just what this overly proud Slytherin boy was trying to do, but she was not having it. She stood with an annoyed frown. "Well, see, I was trying to compliment you," she explained, "but now that I see just what a control-happy imbecile you are, I think not. I'd take orders from a toad before someone like you. Goodbye."

Jinx whipped around, her long hair almost slapping Draco's cheek, and left the dining hall, her nose in the air. Draco watched her leave guiltily, but couldn't wipe away his feelings of surprise that such a shy girl could speak such venom. And he couldn't help but find it attractive.


	4. 3. The Room of Requirement

That evening, after all of her new classes, Jinx began to get a very bad feeling. Where was Dumbeldore? Why was magic no longer allowed? She pondered with her thoughts for a while before running into a large group of students, quite literally too.

"Oh! Sorry about that," Jinx exclaimed quickly. She looked up, shocked to find herself face to face with a boy she knew well. "You're...Harry Potter, aren't you?"

"I am," Harry replied with a sweet smile, "and welcome to Hogwarts, by the way, it's Jinx right?"

"Yes," Jinx replied with a smile of her own, but it was quickly replaced by an confused frown, "what's such a big group of you sneaking around for?"

Harry looked as though he were debating to tell the truth or not. Finally, he questioned, "can we trust you?" Jinx nodded quickly, causing Harry to smile once again, even brighter than before. "Great," he remarked, "come with us."

So Jinx morphed into the group of kids and followed them to a hidden room behind a large stone wall. Inside was a huge, beautiful interior of stone and mirror glass. "What is this place?" She breathed in awe.

Harry smiled down at the beautiful girl as she admires the space. "The Room of Requirement," he answered, "it appears to those who need it most."

"It's brilliant!" Jinx laughed.

Harry chuckled as well as he replied, "isn't it?"

"Harry, your class is waiting," another beautiful girl approached, light brown curls boincing after her. There is was a hint of annoyance in her voice but Jinx could tell she was also amused by something, "and no flirting with your students."

Harry's face blushed the tiniest bit, but it was enough for Jinx to notice. She giggled to herself as the boy left her side to talk with the others. She joined the girl from before who stood slightly away from the group with a red headed boy.

"Unbelievable," the boy gaped, "he can't flirt with a Slytherin."

Jinx cleared her throat, showing that she'd hears the boy's statement. His eyes widened for a moment as he quickly recovered himself, "oh, um, sorry; no offence."

With a lighthearted laugh, Jinx responded, "it's fine, really; I know how much Gryffindor and Slytherin hate each other."

The hinges haired boy looked confused yet impressed. "You do?" He remarked, " blimey, you only just got here."

Immediately regretting her mistake, Jinx explained, "oh, yeah, I learned a lot today."

"You must be pretty smart," the boy complimented with a smile, then playfully turned to his friend, "might give you a run for your money, Hermiome."

 The girl, Hermione, rolled her eyes and brushed off the boy's words. She smiled at Jinx and introduced, "I'm Hermione, this is Ron; we're both in Gryffindor with Harry."

"It's nice to meet both of you," Jinx replied kindly.

Ron's eyebrows raised as he remarked with a grin, "nice manners, for a Slytherin."

"I like to think of myself as open-minded," Jinx spoke quite matter-of-factly, returning the boy's smile. She glanced over at the large group of students; it was obvious that they varied in age, and the different color based robes suggested a mixture of many houses, too. "What, exactly, is going on here?" Jinx asked in confusion.

"A riot against the new headmaster," Ron answered with dislike in his voice.

"Does this have anything to do with the new 'no magic in school' policy?" Jinx questioned, hen added quickly, "because if it does, you count me in." A mischievous grin spread wide on the three students' faces.

Ron held out a hand and Jinx shook it as he said, "welcome to Dumbledore's Army."

Jinx frowned as images flashed across her mind of the old, wise wizard, "..Dumbledore..?"

Hermione had a look of determination on her face as she spoke strongly, "our former headmaster, we're trying to help him in any way we can; I know you didn't know him, but he was brilliant, and Umbridge kicked him out."

In this moment, Jinx had an idea of why she had returned; she was back to help an old friend, for he had once helped her.


	5. 4. Small Talk

After practicing their magic in the Room of Requirements this same day, Jinx snuck back to the Slytherin common room after curfew. But just when she thought she'd gotten away with everything, a familiar voice called her out as she entered the common room, "out past curfew on your first day? Not a good way to start off you're new life, Metlock."

Jinx whipped her head around to find the tall, blond boy from earlier lounging on a couch, watching her. He hopped up and approached Jinx with a suspicious sneer on his face. He seemed to assess her, arms crossed over his chest, before speaking a single word, "Draco."

"...What..?" Jinx questioned in shock. 

The boy sighed. "My name's Draco, Malfoy," he restated, his facial expression still hard, "I think we got off on a bad start." He then held out his hand. After a few seconds of frozen silence, a snicker escaped Draco's lips, "I don't bite."

Jinx felt her face blush as she took Draco's hand and let him shake it, realizing just how handsome the tall boy was. "Well then, here's to starting over," Jinx stated with a nervous sigh.

Draco shot down a charming half smile that made Jinx's heart beat accelerate. "You must be a pure blood, being sorted to Slytherin," Draco tried to make small talk. 

"I am," Jinx replied as she made her way to a couch and sat down.

But as she walked, Draco noticed a limp in her left leg. His mind flashed back to the white wolf, covered in blood; don't you have any idea who this is? Draco squinted his eyes and followed her, taking a seat next to her. "What happened to your side?" He asked knowingly. 

Jinx hesitated for a few moments. "..I don't like to talk about it," she replied simply, trying to cover her nervousness.

A sudden excitement and curiosity bubbled up in Draco as his eyes widened, "your a bloody animagus, aren't you."

Once again, Jinx felt her heart speed up with nervousness. How had this boy figured out her secret? Although he obviously didn't know it completely, somehow he knew part of it. "In a way..yes," Jinx replied, refusing to look Draco in the eyes.

"I knew there was something going on here," Draco remarked proudly, "first that wolf, then you...but you're really just both the same."

"How did you find out?" Jinx asked in defeat.

"I was there when you came in the front gates all bloody," Draco explained slyly, "your limp gave you away."

Jinx sighed and began to worry about her exposed secret. But before long, as if he could read her mind, Draco smiled slightly, "I won't tell anyone."

"Really?" Jinx was surprised, eyes widened than the moon.

Draco looked deeply into the girl's popping eyes; he could see the sparkling ocean through them. Then he realized that that sparkle was her gratitude. His eyes travelled over her pail face in a split second and he came to a conclusion of his own; Jinx was different. Although he didn't know how, or whether it was good or bad, Draco was sure that this beautiful girl would play a large part in his life.

And he hoped it was a good part.

Staring into such an innocent pair of eyes, Draco found his heart fumbling in a way it never had before. "Of course," he replied quietly, in a new gentle tone that Jinx didn't expect aylt all.

But of course she excepted it; she'd rather make friends than enemies, especially in these dark times. Friends would be hard to come by, for Jinx knew how attractive the Dark Lord's power could be to the young and ambitious. "Good night, Metlock," Draco bid in his usual mischievous tone of voice and walked to the boys dorms.

Jinx went to her own gendered dormitories and got read for bed. Within five minutes she was out like a light, and that night, she smiled in her sleep.


	6. 5. Avifors! (Part 1)

November 3, 1995

After a few days of being back at Hogwarts, Jinx found herself making many friends in Dumbledore's army, as well as in Slytherin. A few of her dorm-mates, Pansy, Rosetta, and Addison, had grown very fond of and made friendships with her. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had also grown on Jinx, and she on them.

In fact, she was on her way to see her Gryffindor friends tight this moment, for the four of them shared a Potions class.

"Open to page three hundred and thirty eight," Professor Snape ordered in a monotonous voice. Everyone in the classroom immediately did as they were told. "Today you will learn how to create the standard sleeping draught."

Jinx and Harry had partnered together, while Ron worked with Hermione. "Alright," Jinx affirmed, "what's next?"

Harry looked back into his Potions book and read aloud, "four Valerian Sprigs, and that's all."

So together the two gathered the sprigs and threw them into their mixture. After seven, clockwise stirs with an oak spoon, the potion was completed. "All done," Jinx announced with an accomplished sigh.

"Brilliant," Harry remarked with a smile. He looked around and noticed quickly, "looks like we're the first pair done."

"Don't jump to your celebration too quickly now," Shape warned blandly as he advanced toward the pair. "You made it, but does it work?" He questioned. From a small cage, the professor released a young rabbit. The animal quickly hopped over to the potion and drank it thirstily. Within second, the rabbit was out cold.

Professor Snape's eyebrows raised a bit in surprise, "..very good." It was all he said before continuing to stalk around the room.

Once he was gone, Jinx and Harry shot each other giddy smiles. Potions had become Jinx's favorite class, considering creating potions was about the only magic allowed now. After class, however, she would be in the Room of Requirement yet again. She day dreamed about it; the rebellion, the training, the magic, the freedom.

Once Professor Snape dismissed class, the four friends met secretly with the rest of Dumbledore's Army and snuck to the Room of Requirement together. Today they would practice attacking spells.

"'Avifors,'" Harry announced to the large group of students, "a non-lethal offensive spell that can turn your opponent into a bird; it may seem childish, but it is very difficult for a bird to turn itself back into a person." A wave of snickering swelled at Harry's humor, then he continued, "who wants to go first?"

After a long silence, Ron stepped up timidly, "I will."

"Brilliant," Harry smiled. He then reached his wand and pointed it at Ron. Ron winced away slightly as Harry shouted, "avifors!"

Ron's wand dropped to the ground as his form quickly changed into that of a small sparrow. He flew up to the ceiling and perched himself on a crooked nail. "Tweeeet, tweet!" His small peeps echoed as everyone laughed.

"Ron, come back down here," Hermione ordered with a laugh.

Ron did as he was told and landed right back where he stood. Harry turned him back into himself and he sighed, "bloody hell; that was unpleasant."

Giggles erupted from the group again. Then Harry spoke out, "alright, Ron, you're turn. Who do you want to turn into a bird?"

"You mean, I get to choose?" Ron asked in shock. Harry answered with a simple nod. A devious smile crossed the Weasley's face as his eyes scanned the nervous crowd. His gaze stopped, "Jinx."

Jinx felt her heart jump. Her dark blue eyes widened to the size of ping pong balls. Hesitantly, she stepped forward and away from the group. Ron stood about ten feet in front of her, wand held confidently in his dominant hand as he readied himself.

"Avifors!" Ron chanted across the room, his voice echoing in the silence. But Jinx remained standing as herself. The spell had not worked.


	7. 6. Avifors! (Part 2)

Everyone was completely silent for a good sixty seconds, as if they were waiting for the spell to have it's effect. Finally Ron sighed in disappointment, "what did I do wrong?"

Harry looked at Ron in confusion as he answered, "nothing, you did it right, but..." he trailed off as his gaze found Jinx, standing awkward and stiff; she knew something, it was written allover her face.

Soon all eyes were on Jinx and a few people began to ask in wonder, "how did you deflect his spell?" and, "can you teach us that?"

But Harry quickly silenced the group, seeing how overwhelmed Jinx was getting. "It's alright," he called out, "Ron, I think you actually missed Jinx, that's probably why it didn't work."

"What?" Ron questioned in a fluster, "there's no way I missed-" he was quickly cut off by a hard elbow in the ribs, "ow!"

"Oh, sorry about that," Harry apologized as if it were an accident. He then lowered his voice and whispered to Ron, "we'll talk about it later."

Within a few minutes, everyone was turning each other into birds and the incident had been forgotten temporarily. But once the practice was over, Harry had Ron, Jinx, and Hermione stay behind with him.

"Alright, now let's talk," Hermione began, "I know Ron's magic can be disastrous, but he never misses."

"Hey," Ron warned offensively.

Hermione, however, ignored him and crossed her arms, waiting to Harry's explanation. "...Ron do nothing wrong," he finally admitted.

"Then why would you embarrass him in front of all of us?" Hermione demanded. But Harry had no good answer; only one person held the explanation for that.

Jinx, who'd been silent until now, piped up, "because of me." Now Jinx held the spotlight, and she knew she'd have to tell these three everything. So she took a deep breath in and launched into her explanation, "I'm not like other wizards, I can do things that most can't, and technically," Jinx paused and lowered her head bashfully, "I would be classified as a magical creature, not fully human."

Harry pressed on out of curiosity, "Jinx, what are you?"

"A Creature of Kinds," Jinx replied, still refusing any eye contact, "more commonly know as a Phantom."

"Why a phantom? There's nothing ghostly about you," Ron argued.

"It originated because my kind we don't hold a single form, like a phantom of sorts," Jinx explained, "see, that spell didn't work on me because it was trying to turn me into something I already am."

"You're a...bird?" Hermione asked in disbelief. 

Jinx nodded, slightly amused by their confusion. "And a dog, or lion, or mouse, a flower," she listed, "I am anything and everything that is living; thus the name, Creature of Kinds." She then proceeded to change into a dog, a lion, a mouse, and a flower. 

The three stared at Jinx like she was an alien, and in a way she was. They'd never heard of her kind before, considering how rare she was. "How come I've never heard of you before?" Ron asked.

"I'm not surprised, honestly, no one ever cared enough to write the sad story of how my kind came to be," Jinx answered with somewhat of a frown, "and atop of that, with every generation of my kind, the odds of a Creature being born are cut in half. Until ten generations, then it restarts."

The three wizards gaped at Jinx in confusion. "Could you please..clarify?" Harry asked politely.

"Every female child born of the first Creature was sure to be one as well; they would be the second generation," Jinx began to explain, "the femall children born of a second generation Creature would only have a 50% chance of being a one as well. The blood line is cut in half every generation."

"Wow..." Harry remarked in awe.

Ron shrugged slightly, "well, that's not too bad, is it?"

"One would think so," Jinx frowned, "but there's another catch. Every Creature is immoral until their soul mate is found, and they are infertile to any one other than their soul mate."

"Oh..." Ron replied awkwardly.

Then something crossed Jinx's mind. "Hey, you guys can't tell anyone about this, alright?" Jinx spoke desperately.

"Of course," Harry replied immediately.

"Got it," Ron said with a nod. 

Hermione nodded as well and agreed, "alright."

Jinx smiled at the three friends; she finally felt like she would be safe again.


	8. 7. Protective

"Wait," Ron exclaimed suddenly as the four friends walked outside to the courtyard together, "so if you're immoral, how old are you?"

He was quickly shushed by Harry, Hermione, and Jinx. Jinx had to think for a moment, "um...eighty eight, actually."

"Bloody hell!" Ron called in surprise, again receiving shushes from his friends. He then proceeded to repeat his statement, this time quietly, "..bloody hell."

"I was born in 1907," Jinx specified as she gazed out at the sunset. 

"That's amazing," Hermione remarked with excitement, "do you realize that makes you the only naturally immoral creature known of?"

Jinx snorted a sarcastic laugh as she corrected, "hardly know of."

Just then a familiar face came into Jinx's view and she smiled. However, Ron sighed in annoyance and mumbled, "ugh, not him."

"Evening, Potter," Draco spat with a smirk, "heard you used Jinx to get an A in Potions today." Blaise and Pansy snickered behind him.

"Actually, we worked together," Harry retorted, then added, "something you're probably not used to doing."

"Why, you ignorant-" Draco began, only to be cut off by an irritated yell.

"Stop!" Jinx demanded, "stop fighting." And with that she stormed off, her jet black waves bouncing after her.

"What's her problem?" Pansy asked with a giggle. 

As response to this, Draco did something that surprised everyone. He turned to Pansy, the girl who'd followed in his footsteps for the past five years, who would do anything he asked of her, and sneered angrily, "oh shut it, Parkinson; at least she speaks her own opinion."

Pansy's jaw dropped as she took offence to Draco's harsh words. But the boy couldn't care less, he was already gone, chasing after Jinx.

That night when curfew called everyone back to their common rooms, Draco finally found Jinx. She sat quietly on a couch as if she were waiting for him, just admiring the fireplace.

Draco walked over and took the empty seat next to her on the couch. There were a few other Slytherins sitting at a table on the other side of the large room playing cards. After a moment of awkward silence, he spoke, "..sorry about earlier."

Jinx finally acknowledged his presence and turned to him, but she did not make eye contact. Instead, she stared at the floor as she replied, "I heard you yelled at Pansy."

Draco scoffed, "well, she deserved it." This made Jinx smile; although it was just a small grin, Draco noticed and couldn't help but feel relief flood him. A tiny smile of his own began to appear as he asked, "what are you smiling for?"

The smile on Jinx's face widened and she moved her gaze to the card players. "It just seemed like you were being protective, that's all," she explained like it was no big deal. But honestly, to Jinx, it was a very big deal; her crush on the young Malfoy had been growing ever since she met him.

"So what if I was," Draco retorted defensively as his smile faded and his cheeks dusted red, "I stand up for all of my friends."

"Not Pansy, though," the words slipped out of Jinx's mouth before she could stop them.

Draco, now in an obvious fluster, struggled to find another excuse, but his mind had gone in a jumble. He couldn't focus on a single thing. Until Jinx finally looked up into his eyes, and his mind finally settled on one thought, her. As if he'd been put under a spell, nothing else seemed to matter to him anymore.

"It's okay," Jinx soothed quietly with a gentle smile, "I won't tell anyone about your soft side."

There wasn't a single fiber of Draco willing to fight back any longer. The two sat facing each other on the couch now, staring into one another's eyes, breathing the same, sweet air. Then Jinx slowly stood, Draco following her with his gaze. "Goodnight, Draco," she bid with an innocent smile, then she went to the girl's dorm, leaving the Slytherin boy in a tranced daze.


End file.
